History of German Football - The 1960s

The 1960s

The new league was met with enthusiasm early on and large crowds came out to watch the nation's top teams. No single team was able to dominate through the 1960s — in seven seasons from 1963–64 through to 1969–70, seven different teams won the championship. The 1965–66 season saw the promotion of Bayern München to the top league and in 1968–69 they won their first championship on their way to becoming the most dominant side in Bundesliga history.

The 1960s also saw one of the strangest incidents in the history of the Bundesliga. The licence of Hertha BSC Berlin was revoked for the 1964–65 season and the team relegated to the Regionalliga Berlin (Regional leagues being the leagues below the Bundesliga at the time) for breaking the league's player salary rules, partially in an attempt to entice players to Berlin at the time of the construction of the Berlin Wall and high Cold War tensions. The last place clubs, Karlsruher SC and FC Schalke 04, tried to avoid being demoted by laying claim to Hertha's place. It was decided to suspend relegation for one season and increase the number of teams in the league from 16 to 18 to accommodate the two teams which would normally be promoted from the Regionalligen. The politics of the Cold War era led to a space being held open for a Berlin side to replace Hertha in a show of solidarity with the former capital city. What followed was the debacle of the promotion of Tasmania 1900 Berlin, which went on to the worst season in league history.

West Germany made another appearance in the final of the World Cup in 1966, losing (4:2) to England in extra time that included a famously controversial goal.